Where were you when the world stopped turning?
by TelevisionOverload
Summary: Alexandra 'Alex' Harbor and her cousin Robert 'Deuce' Harbor saw exactly what happened on 9/11, 2001. They were 1 and 5 at the time, and with there eidetic memories they remember it all. Rated K because, well it's 9/11, but I didn't think it was T worthy. There's no foul language or dialogue at all. It's all her thoughts about it. I couldn't let 9/11 go by without doing something.


**Author's notes: Today's 9/11 so I couldn't let it go by without doing something. Our teacher had us watch a video about it and I nearly cried.**

**It says that it's been less than 11 years, because I'm making it be what she was thinking about when she was on the helicarrier. So it would have been in May/June 2012. When I get that far in the story, I'll write it as the 11 year mark, the 12 year mark, if not 13 year mark as well. I might do all of them, I probably will do all of them.  
**

**I looked at a lot of first accounts of the towers falling, and I got this right.**

**This is a songfic for Alan Jackson's Where were you when the world stopped turning?**

**If I messed up any facts, I've been looking it up and I think I got the fact about which one collapsed first right.**

**I didn't personally lose anyone on 9/11, but I know people who did, or who almost did. Some of my Family knew people like that, my teacher knew people like that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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Where were you when the world stopped turning?

Sadness

Confusion

Devastation

Unbelievable

Shock

Worry

Loneliness

Anger

Fright

Surreal

Speechlessness

Sorrow

Those were all emotions people felt, I felt. The very date of 9/11 makes me feel as if I overdid it in the first journal entry. I think my Father isn't as bad as I originally said. I was mad with him when I said that, I was really mad. Sometimes I don't understand how my brain works. It has never made sense to me, and I think it must have to do with my Mother. I'm saying this because I know this is really weird. I know it's out of the ordinary, even though I've never been normal. I can remember with vivid details what happened on September 11th, 2001. I was only 1 when it happened, but I remember exactly where I was and what I saw. It was completely mortifying. I was only a baby, it wasn't hard for me and my cousin to act like we didn't understand what happened, but we did, oh we did. I think they knew that we understood it all, the way they didn't care if we cried. It was a tragedy. The world was crying for them.

_Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?_

_Were you in the yard with your wife and children?_

_Or working on some stage in L.A.?_

_Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke?_

_Risin' against that blue sky?_

_Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor?_

_Or did you just sit down and cry?_

My cousin Deuce and I were with our Fathers. My Dad is Mackenzie Harbor and his brother, the one that was Deuce's Dad was Trent Harbor. We had just gone to visit our uncle, Robert Harbor Jr., the only son my Grandfather had who didn't become a conman, at his business office. We were outside his office playing tic-tact-toe with his assistant, Melina Jones. They didn't let us in the room, they said it was a talk for men. It was between the 3 brothers. It was a reconcile of brothers, they hadn't been real close since before Deuce was born. They spent 40 minutes talking to him. I think it was 8:00-8:40 am. It was 6 minutes before the first plane hit the North Tower. You know how you can feel so lucky about somethings, or how you weren't there when they happened. Well Deuce and I can't exactly say that. We had been in the building, he worked in the South Tower, the one which collapsed first. We were worried sick about him, and I understood why.

_Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones_

_And pray for the ones who don't know?_

_Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble_

_And sob for the ones left below?_

_Did you burst out with pride for the red, white and blue_

_And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?_

_Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer_

_And look at yourself and what really matters?_

My Father and Uncle camped out in our apartment for 3 days. We didn't leave for anything other than to eat. We wished that we could figure out what happened to him, but we didn't get any calls. During that third day, they didn't tell us what they were doing. They just packed a bag and headed out to the clean up site. They started trying to find a way through the blockade, the cops kept on telling them it wasn't safe, that they shouldn't go anywhere neat what was left of the towers. Soon a guy must have recognized them and we and they us down to where the towers used to be. They started talking to, pleading with them to tell us if they found him, if he was ok, if he was alive at all.

_I'm just a singer of simple songs_

_I'm not a real political man_

_I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell_

_You the difference in Iraq and Iran_

_But I know Jesus and I talk to God_

_And I remember this from when I was young_

_Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us_

_And the greatest is love_

We didn't get an answer for 6 hours. We just sat there, watching Firefighters and Policemen go in and not come out. One of the Policemen who originally spoke to us didn't come out. It was terrifying, even though the incident was 3 days before. It was hard to believe that New York was still basically a war-zone. It was the only time they had ever been eager to tell people the family name, people didn't seem to process that they were co. At that point, even if they did, I doubt that anyone would have cared. Everybody was desperate for news at that point, we didn't know who did it or why.

_Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?_

_Were you teaching a class full of innocent children_

_Or driving down some cold interstate?_

_Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor_

_In a crowded room did you feel alone?_

_Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her?_

_Did you dust off that Bible at home?_

By the time we finally got an answer, we had basically lost all hope that he was alive. Our Family wasn't exactly one of the lucky ones. He didn't show up as one of the survivors, and they didn't recover his body. They said there was a good chance he had been crushed, his floor would have been one of the ones that had been. We didn't even have a clue on what happened to him, then we saw one of his coworkers. He had been there that day when we visited him. The man was terrified and cowered at the sight at the buildings continuing to fall and break. We asked him what he knew about it.

_Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened_

_Close your eyes and not go to sleep?_

_Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages_

_Or speak to some stranger on the street?_

_Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow_

_Or go out and buy you a gun?_

_Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'_

_And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns?_

He was honest with us to the start. He made it down to the bottom floor with the 30 other people on there floor. He went back up with 2 security people to find who was still alive. Then the tower started collapsing 12 people came out. It was the two dispatched security and 10 people from the floor. They said that he succeeded in evacuating the 14 people from the floor, but he and some of them didn't make it. Some heroes didn't make it. They called up Grandpa to tell him what happened. We didn't know what we were supposed to do, we just had to wait. It was a tragedy that couldn't be undone.

_Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers?_

_Did you stand in line and give your own blood?_

_Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family?_

_Thank God you had somebody to love?_

_I'm just a singer of simple songs_

_I'm not a real political man_

_I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell_

_You the difference in Iraq and Iran_

_But I know Jesus and I talk to God_

_And I remember this from when I was young_

_Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us_

_And the greatest is love_

People never seem to appreciate what they have until it's gone. I can count my family in that, that was the only time I saw my entire family together. Half of them hated each other, but they all came together over Robert Harbor Jr. 1966-2001. He died when he was 35, the oldest of all of the Harbor boys. He was actually the oldest of all the Harbor children. My Grandfather had 7 sons, and 5 daughters. He was the oldest of The Dozen Harbor's.

Robert Harbor Jr. born 1966 died 2001

James Harbor born 1968

William Harbor born 1969

Carmen Harbor born 1970

Jenifer Harbor born 1970

Maria Harbor born 1970

Derek Harbor born 1971

Mackenzie Harbor born 1971

Carlson Harbor born 1972

David Harbor born 1973

Katherine Harbor born 1974

Leona Harbor born 1975

That was the family registry that Deuce and I found. There were so many kids, I don't even have a single sibling.

_I'm just a singer of simple songs_

_I'm not a real political man_

_I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell_

_You the difference in Iraq and Iran_

_But I know Jesus and I talk to God_

_And I remember this from when I was young_

_Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us_

_And the greatest is love_

Deuce and I went to that memorial sight with Dina last year. It was September 11th, the day that the memorial opened for the families of victims. We took Dina with us because she was as good as family. It was about 5 minutes before 10:00 am when we were looking around for his name. We didn't find it at first, it was 9:59. We asked the man who was there. When we found it, it was 10:02. We found a calling card on the name. It was the calling card of The Seven Swords.

_And the greatest is love._

_And the greatest is love._

And the greatest is love.

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**Wow, I can't exactly believe I did that. I know some might find it offensive, but I wanted to do a tribute story.**

**This story is for everyone who lost a family member of friend on 9/11. Even if you were just close to losing a friend/family member/your own life.**

**- Television Overload**


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